Obama, Putin agree to 'push' for peace talks in war-torn Syria

Obama, Putin agree to 'push' for peace talks in war-torn Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama say their “opinions do not coincide” on the bloody Syrian civil war but they’ve agreed to “push” the Assad regime and opposition forces back to the negotiation table for peace talks.

Putin and Obama emerged late Monday from a two-hour bilateral meeting at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland to announce they still don’t see eye-to-eye on the Syrian conflict, but they’re both committed to reducing escalating violence and use of chemical weapons.

“Of course, our opinions do not coincide, but all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria and to stop the growth of victims and to solve the situation peacefully, including by bringing the parties to the negotiating table in Geneva. We agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table,” Putin said through a translator following his bilateral meeting with Obama.

We agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table

The Russian leader has come under fire for supporting and arming Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper saying on Sunday that Putin was an outlier who was turning the G8 into the “G7 plus one” because he supported “thugs” in the Syrian regime.

The United States has already announced plans to ship small arms to the rebels, with Britain and France also considering providing military aid to the opposition — something Assad vows would be a big mistake.

Putin has also warned Western countries against their plans to arm opposition forces, but the Russian and American leaders found some common ground on the need for getting the Assad regime and opposition forces back to the table for Geneva peace talks that could restart possibly next month.

“We do have different perspectives on the problem, but we share an interest in reducing the violence, securing chemical weapons and ensuring they are neither used nor are they subject to proliferation, and that we want to try to resolve the issue through political means, if possible,” Obama said.

“And so we have instructed our teams to continue to work on the potential of a Geneva followup to the first meeting.”

The two leaders also released a joint statement saying they have agreed to hold a U.S.-Russia summit in Moscow on Sept. 3-4, 2013, to “discuss in greater detail the full range of bilateral and international issues.”

Both sides have reached an understanding on a “positive agenda for relations between our countries” that includes arms control, non-proliferation, international security, trade, responding to global threats, countering terrorism and militant extremism, says the statement.

The agreement by the two leaders to push for peace talks was a dramatic development in a day when Canadian officials were girding for difficult discussions with Putin who has warned Europe will “pay the price” if it arms Syrian rebels.

Canada and its allies around the G8 table had been hoping to engage Russia in a conversation that can get Assad’s regime back to the table for peace talks with opposition forces, as the death toll in the two-year-old conflict surpasses 93,000.

Harper maintains Canada is not, “at the present time,” planning to arm the Syrian opposition — but has not ruled it out — as the U.S., Britain and France all move toward supplying military aid to the rebels.

“If the Europeans deliver weapons, then Europe’s backyard will become terrorist, and Europe will pay the price for it,” Assad was quoted as saying in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Putin had criticized Western leaders on Sunday for wanting to arm Syrian rebels who eat human organs, sparking further tension among G8 leaders on how to resolve the Syrian conflict.

The Canadian government, meanwhile, announced $115 million in new humanitarian and development assistance for Syria and neighbouring countries being flooded by refugees. Canada will provide $90 million to humanitarian organizations in Syria and countries hosting refugees to help with food, clean water, shelter and health care.

Another $25 million will go to Jordan and Lebanon to support government services and infrastructure strained from the influx of refugees.

“The brutal Assad regime continues to wreak havoc on innocent Syrian civilians. Canada will continue to work with our allies to help the Syrian people,” Harper said Monday in a statement. The prime minister did not take questions Monday from Canadian reporters with him on the trip.

The battle around the G8 table over Syria has been raising more questions about Russia’s future role in the group and whether the G8 is facing an existential crisis. Russia hosts both the G20 summit later this year and G8 talks in 2014.

“We’ve been pretty clear with Russia throughout: stop sending arms, stop backing the wrong side of history,” a senior Canadian government official told reporters during a briefing.

“It won’t be an easy discussion (with Putin),” said another official.

On Sunday, Harper attacked Putin for supporting the Assad regime, addressing in stark terms the divide between the G8 countries.

“We in the West have a very different perspective on this situation. Mr. Putin and his government are supporting the thugs of the Assad regime for their own reasons that I do not think are justifiable, and Mr. Putin knows my view on that. But we will not, unless there’s a big shift of position on his part, we’re not going to get a common position with him at the G8.”

But Harper faces his own challenges, specifically on trade, as the United States and European Union officially announced the start of negotiations on a free-trade deal, which could distract the EU from their prolonged talks on an overdue Canada-EU free-trade agreement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, the summit host, is facing his own distractions, after the U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported that Britain spied on Group of 20 politicians and senior officials of other countries, including Russia and Turkey, during the 2009 G20 summit in London.

Harper’s officials offered “no comment” on the reports of the British spying.

Leaders spent the first day of the two-day G8 summit discussing the global economy during an afternoon session, followed by a working dinner on international security — specifically the escalating crisis in Syria.

On Tuesday, all leaders will discuss counter-terrorism initiatives, hold the traditional family photo and discuss new initiatives to combat international tax evasion, before wrapping up the summit in the afternoon.

Harper arrived Monday afternoon at the Lough Erne summit site — a short drive from the picturesque town of Enniskillen, which is hosting world media — and held bilateral meetings with Italy’s Enrico Letta, Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Germany’s Angela Merkel.

The Harper government has opposed arming Syrian rebels over fears the weapons could end up in the hands of what it calls “extremist elements” fighting within the opposition.

Obama has approved shipping small arms to Syrian rebels after American officials said they have conclusive evidence Assad’s government used chemical weapons against opposition forces.

I am as worried as anybody else about elements of the Syrian opposition who are extremists who support terrorism

France and Britain fought to dismantle a European Union arms embargo to open the possibility of shipping weapons to rebels to ratchet up the pressure on Assad.

On Monday, Cameron said he also has concerns about the extremist elements in the opposition.

“Let’s be clear — I am as worried as anybody else about elements of the Syrian opposition who are extremists who support terrorism, who are a great danger to our world. The question is what do we do about that. My argument is that we shouldn’t accept that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence,” Cameron told British media.

“What we can try to do here at the G8, is have further pressure for the peace conference, for the transition that’s needed to bring this conflict to an end.”

Cameron is hosting the meeting of leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United States and United Kingdom.

Harper is also under enormous pressure to complete a Canada-EU free-trade agreement, especially now with the United States and European Union officially announcing Monday at the G8 summit they’re launching negotiations on their own trade accord, with talks expected to start in July.

Canada and the EU are in the final stages of negotiations, but seemingly remain deadlocked on a couple of key issues, including Canadian beef access into Europe, government procurement on urban transit in Canada, and financial services and investment protection.

Harper had initially promised negotiations would be completed by the end of 2012.

Trade observers believe it could be more difficult for Canada to complete the trade talks with the EU once it turns its attention to the U.S.

Harper will be at the G8 table with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who seems to have already turned his attention to trade talks with the United States.

Barroso, Cameron and Obama all trumpeted Monday the importance of a U.S.-EU trade deal for the global economy.

“We’re talking about what could be the biggest bilateral trade deal in history; a deal that will have a greater impact than all the other trade deals on the table put together,” Cameron said.

“Our partnership will be a true game-changer for the global economy,” Barroso said.